KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court has ordered the authorities to present journalist and Janaastha Weekly editor Kishore Shrestha, along with the other defendants, before the court on August 17.
A bench of Justice Bal Krishna Dhakal issued the order on Friday while hearing a writ petition filed on behalf of Shrestha. The court directed the Kathmandu District Court and the defendants to appear with the detained journalist, the investigation file, and the items seized during the investigation.
The order states that the court must examine why an order sought by the petitioner should not be issued. If the order is to be contested, the defendants must submit a written response through the Office of the Attorney General by 10:00 am on August 17, stating the legal grounds and reasons for opposing the petition.
The court further instructed the authorities to present the complaint and related investigation documents, as well as the CPU, laptop, iPad, and mobile phone recovered from Shrestha’s home and office.
Police arrested Shrestha from his residence in Lalitpur on Wednesday night and took him into custody. His wife, Saraswati Shrestha, filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Thursday, alleging that he was being unlawfully detained. Following the hearing, the court issued the above order on Friday.
According to Saraswati, police searched their house for a second time on Thursday and seized the CCTV camera storage device. Earlier, on the evening of Shrestha’s arrest, police had also confiscated computers and other equipment from both his residence and the Janaastha office.
Comment